


The Chosen One

by agoldengalaxy



Series: Grandpa Dooku [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Dooku stays in the order to take care of his grandchildren, Gen, Jealousy, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23971645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoldengalaxy/pseuds/agoldengalaxy
Summary: Yan Dooku is trying to relax when he hears a commotion down the hall. Not surprisingly, Anakin is in the middle of it.
Series: Grandpa Dooku [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721290
Comments: 9
Kudos: 189





	The Chosen One

**Author's Note:**

> Here is part 4! Not too exciting this time, but I do like the idea of Dooku being a bit of a softie for only one (1) child!
> 
> Suggestions are always welcome, and kudos/comments are appreciated!

Dooku leaned back against the countertop, sipping at a cup of tea. It was a peaceful morning, for once, and he was enjoying his alone time. But he needed to leave his room eventually, and of course, the quiet in the Jedi Temple would never last.

Outside his door, he could hear raised voices - and by the sound of it, they were children.

How  _ wonderful. _

He couldn’t exactly ignore it, though, so he’d have to get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. The only  _ good _ thing about having the younglings all around was the fact that they normally kept their distance from him. They found him intimidating. He intended to keep it that way.

Leaving his mug on the table, he adjusted his robes and stepped out of the room, heading down the hall towards the commotion.

In the training area, the younglings were in a circle, cheering and yelling. And considering Dooku towered above them all, he could see why they were cheering; Anakin stood in the middle along with a Togruta youngling, their hands raised in a fighting stance.

“Just  _ what  _ is going on here?” Dooku drawled, striding further into the room, making his presence known. Almost immediately, the children pulled apart from the circle, and the two who had been in the center crossed their arms, looking away. The room was silent. The man’s frown deepened, and he looked towards Anakin. “Skywalker,” he pressed, “what is the meaning of this?”

Anakin’s crossed arms tightened, but he looked up to meet Dooku’s gaze after a moment. He seemed to be the only child who wasn’t intimidated by Dooku - and he wasn’t quite sure how he should feel about that. “Codi doesn’t think I’m good enough to be the ‘chosen one’ like Qui-Gon said,” he finally answered, earning a scoff from the Togruta - and the rest of the children looked anywhere but at the Jedi Master.

“Is that so?” Dooku turned his attention to the youngling, clasping his hands behind his back with furrowed brows. “Well,  _ Codi _ , I don’t believe that is for you to decide.” He had to fight to keep as much disgust from his tone as possible. It wasn’t becoming to scold children so thoroughly; especially since they were not his Padawans to discipline.

Codi said nothing. The other younglings suddenly seemed to find a particular interest in the floor, but Anakin cautiously raised his gaze up to Dooku.

The man huffed a sigh, waving a hand dismissively. “Run along, all of you. Perhaps I will be needing to have a  _ chat _ with Master Yoda.” Being dismissed, the children exchanged wary looks before rushing out of the room. Anakin lagged behind, and Dooku turned to him, slowly crouching down to his level. “Tell me what happened.”

“They don’t like me,” he whined, looking away with a frown. “They’ve been here longer and they know more about lightsaber fighting. And they’re jealous that Obi-Wan and Master Yoda think I’m the chosen one, and that I was chosen as a Padawan before them.”

All things considered, Anakin didn’t seem very bothered. He looked more angry than upset, and Dooku sighed, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. As much as Skywalker could be a pain, he’d slowly grown on him. Perhaps he did a little more than  _ just  _ tolerate the boy. “You may be starting out later than the rest of the children, but you have something they do not.”

Anakin slowly looked back up, hope glinting in his eyes. “What is it?”

“Natural talent.” Dooku felt the corner of his mouth twitch, and slowly he let go of the boy’s shoulder. “They may have been here longer than you have, and yet you can match or even outmatch their skill.” He watched as Anakin’s expression softened, and he continued. “That talent will not be enough to become a Jedi, but that is why you’re being trained.”

Dooku moved to stand back up, but Anakin grabbed his wrist. If it were anyone else, he might have thrown them across the room - but not Skywalker. Instead he only tensed.

“Do you believe it?” Anakin whispered, taking a step closer, “Do you believe I’m the chosen one?”

The room was quiet, and Dooku could sense the boy’s emotions clear as day; anger, frustration, and perhaps some sadness. Glancing down at the small hand that held his wrist, he pursed his lips. “I do,” he admitted after a moment of silence. “Qui-Gon believed it, and I agree with him. Your Master thinks so, too.”

The words seemed to reassure him, which almost surprised Dooku. He’d never been good with children. Anakin smiled just a little as his shoulders released some tension.

Thinking it over for a moment, the man then stood up, walking over to grab one of the training lightsabers. Wordlessly, he tossed it to Anakin, who caught it with ease - like it was second nature. “Come, Skywalker. I shall teach you a new move. If those children have anything more to say to you, perhaps you can show them they were wrong.”

Anakin’s face lit up, and he grinned, switching his footing to the proper stance, holding his lightsaber out in front of him. For the sake of practice, Dooku grabbed one of the younglings’ sabers too, holding it out.

Obi-Wan had been doing most of Anakin’s training, and as Dooku worked with him, he could tell he’d been doing a good job. The boy’s footwork had already improved drastically since their first lesson, and he seemed to rely less on just his eyes and more on the Force.

An improvement, indeed.

By the end of the hour, Anakin had mastered a brutal backswing. He, of course, had been reminded not to actually  _ use  _ the move on his classmates, but instead, to show off a bit. Show the children they were wrong; and that jealousy was very unbecoming.

When they had finished, Dooku took the sabers and put them away, looking down at the child with the smallest of smiles - and Anakin returned it with a proud one of his own. “Run along now, Skywalker. I’m certain your Master will be looking for you.”

“What about you, Master Dooku?” he asked innocently as they both stepped out of the training room.

“I must be finishing my morning tea,” he replied lightly, clasping his hands behind him as they headed down the hallway. When they approached Obi-Wan’s door, they both paused.

Anakin looked like he wanted to say a lot more, but instead he settled on a bright, “Thank you.”

Despite his better judgement, the corners of Dooku’s mouth pointed up, and he bowed his head a little. “You’re very welcome. Now, go on.”

He didn’t wait for any more conversation - he  _ knew  _ that child could ramble, after all, and despite the fact that he was certainly growing on him, he didn’t particularly want to stick around for another thirty minutes.

As he headed down the hallway, he heard the door open, and immediately Anakin launched into a description of what he’d just learned. He could hear Obi-Wan letting out a patient chuckle, telling Anakin to slow down.

Dooku didn’t stick around to hear the rest of it, and instead stepped back into his quarters with a small sigh. He remembered what it was like to be a youngling, too - it was hard to stand out. Not many of his peers liked him, especially since he was chosen by Master Yoda himself to be his Padawan.

Still, he knew Anakin would get through. He had Obi-Wan, and that was what mattered, in the end. Despite the circumstances in which they’d found each other, Dooku could tell they were already a good match.

Not for the first time, his thoughts wandered to Qui-Gon. As he sipped some of his lukewarm tea, he exhaled quietly. 

There were many moments when he still wanted to quit the Order; when his anger bubbled up in his chest unpleasantly like a raging sea, threatening to drown the Council and their insolence at any moment. But he tamed it every time, never once letting it spill over, because as much as he wouldn’t admit it, he’d grown quite fond of Kenobi and Skywalker - and the way he could make himself feel better about this revelation was the idea that they needed him, too.

Grief was still prominent, though improving with time. And Obi-Wan, despite defeating a Sith Lord, was still quite young to be a Master. Dooku only wanted to provide the guidance he would need. Perhaps then, he would quit the Order.

But as he heard a loud laugh from Obi-Wan even from down the hall, he knew, deep down, that he probably couldn’t ever leave. Not as long as they were here.


End file.
